PHILADELPHIA ARTISTS FIND CREATIVITY IN A CAN

Monday, 15 October 2007 00:05

PHILADELPHIA, PA – Red Bull brings aluminum innovation to the City of Brotherly Love through a unique, international showcase of recycled art by presenting the 2007 Red Bull Art of Can exhibit in Philadelphia this fall.

The annual Red Bull Art of Can contest and exhibition challenges laypersons to professional artists to create a piece of original artwork that is inspired by or made from recycled Red Bull cans. No limits are placed on the artists, and their only guideline is that each creation evokes the spirit of Red Bull or utilizes the can in some way.

This year, Philadelphia was selected as a Red Bull Art of Can exhibition host city. The F.U.E.L. Collection in Center City will showcase the Red Bull Art of Can Philadelphia exhibit from October 20 through November 2. The exhibit is free and open to the public and can be previewed online at www.redbullartofcan.com.

A total of 265 artists of all ages, backgrounds and skill levels submitted designs for the Red Bull Art of Can Philadelphia exhibit but it was up to a panel of distinguished judges to selected 56 of the most eye-catching and creative pieces to be exhibited at The F.U.E.L. Collection. The array of art submitted came from local Philadelphia talent to as far away as Ufa City, Russia, and represents a vast collection of media, from sculptures and paintings to wood workings and textiles.

The Red Bull Art of Can Philadelphia exhibit will showcase pieces such as: A life-size, angel nymph sculpture; wearable, high-fashion items such as a red-carpet worthy dress; a rotating globe hand-studded with 5,000 Swarovski© crystals; a modern interpretation of a Michelangelo painting; and a 4-foot-tall, free-standing beehive. The creativity, intricacy and detail in the pieces bear reminding – all of the artwork is made from or has been inspired by recycled Red Bull cans.

Also featured in the collection is a piece by Philadelphia Top Stitch boutique co-owner and jewelry designer Linda Smyth called “Flying Bull.” Smyth created an embellished mannequin woman with a headdress, woven from hundreds of feathered metals. As she explains, “I gave my piece personality…it invokes intensity. It’s a manifestation of my inner warrior goddess.”

The 2007 Philadelphia contest received an overwhelming number of submissions from across the country and around the world, but it was up to a panel of distinguished judges to decide which pieces earned a coveted pedestal at the exhibition. Their decision was based on excellence in the areas of creativity, construction and execution.

In addition to selecting the 56 pieces to be exhibited, the judges also award special prizes to the overall top three artists/pieces. First prize is an all-expense-paid trip for two to Art Basel, the world’s premier modern and contemporary art fair in Basel, Switzerland. Second prize is an all-expense-paid-trip for two to Art Basel in Miami. Third prize is an annual Sponsor Level Membership to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which includes passes and invitations to special events and private tours at the Philadelphia Museum of Art as well as its 46 national reciprocal museum partners such as The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.